eminency


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The "Superiority Theory" of humor, epitomized by Thomas Hobbes, argues that the passion of laughter is "[the] sudden glory arising from some conception of some eminency in ourselves, by comparison with the infirmity of others".
"The terrible laughter of the Afrikaner"--towards a social history of humor
As Thomas Hobbes puts it: 'the passion of laughter is nothing else but a sudden glory arising from sudden conception of some eminency in ourselves, by comparison with the infirmities of others, or with our own formerly'.
The ethics of anonymity
Thomas Hobbes' famous remark on laughter similarly assumes a condition of incongruity: "the passion of laughter is nothing else but a sudden glory" arising from the "sudden conception of some eminency in ourselves, by comparison with the infirmities of others, or with our own formerly: for men laugh at the follies of themselves past, when they come suddenly to remembrance, except they bring with them any present dishonour" (54-55).
Comprehending Faulkner's humor
In pairs, then in single file, we march slowly in feigned solemnity, propping up our unconvincing eminency in ranks of carefully-tuned hierarchy.
In Black Robes, We

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